-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Canada reserved the best to last as its ice hockey heroes beat arch-rivals the United States 3-2 with an overtime goal from Sidney Crosby to claim the final gold of the Winter Olympics .

Crosby , Canada 's star player , broke American hearts with his goal seven minutes and 40 seconds into added time to give the hosts its 14th gold of a triumphant Vancouver Games .

Canada looked headed for a comfortable victory as Jonathan Toews scored in the first period and teammate Corey Perry followed up to make it 2-0 early in the second .

But Ryan Kesler pulled one back later in the second period to set up a frantic finale .

Canada 's much-vaunted Stanley Cup hero Crosby missed a breakaway chance to seal the gold for his side but with the clock counting down it seemed not to matter .

That was until the United States threw caution to the wind and Zach Parise forced overtime with just 25 seconds remaining , his fourth goal of the Games for the previously unbeaten in five U.S. squad .

The momentum now appeared to be with the United States , who had beaten Canada 5-3 in a preliminary round match .

But they reckoned without Crosby , who had not been a significant factor in the final until he came good as he received a pass from Jarome Iginla and slid his winning shot under U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller .

He was immediately mobbed by teammates who had finally lived up to the expectations of an ice hockey-mad nation .

`` I just shot it , '' Crosby told gathered reporters . `` It does n't even feel real . It feels like a dream . ''

It 's the first victory for a host country in Olympic ice hockey since the famous United States triumph at Lake Placid in 1980 .

But their 2010 counterparts were unable to match their golden feat and it clearly hurt .

`` We only came here for one thing we wanted that gold medal , it 's really a tough feeling right now . It stings you a lot , said Patrick Kane .

The other gold decided on the 17th and final day of action in Vancouver went to Norway 's Petter Northug who won the men 's 50km cross country title .

He beat Germany 's Axel Teichmann in a two-up sprint with Johan Olsson of Sweden taking the bronze .

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Sidney Crosby overtime goal gives Canada ice hockey gold at Winter Games

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United States forced added time with Zach Parise goal with 25 seconds remaining

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Victory gives hosts Canada a record 14 golds in Winter Games

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Petter Northug of Norway wins men 's 50km cross country title in sprint finish